The present invention relates to a new and improved method of fabricating a sabot projectile, especially an arrow projectile, comprising a projectile body, a sabot formed of a metal alloy and a plastic jacket, and furthermore, pertains to a new and improved construction of sabot projectile fabricated according to the inventive method.
Sabot projectiles, also referred to in the art as subcaliber projectiles, are used in armor-piercing weapons having extremely high ammunition velocity, also referred to as hypervelocity armor-piercing sabots.
With a state-of-the-art projectile of this type, as the same has been disclosed in Swiss Pat. No. 512,719, segments of a sabot are arranged about a projectile needle or arrow. These segments are held together radially by means of a guide band and a sealing band. Between the sabot and the projectile arrow there is arranged an entrainment element for transmitting the forces in axial direction. This entrainment element comprises, for instance, a ring composed of a number of elements and engages both in a groove of the projectile arrow or needle and also in a groove provided at the sabot.
With such type projectile the preparatory work for the injection molding of a plastic jacket is extremely time-consuming, and therefore, is unfavorable for any rational and priceworthy mass or series production of the projectile. Thus, the segments of the sabot, the projectile arrow and the entrainment elements must be assembled together and, by means of a special device which holds together such parts, placed into an injection mold. It is therefore possible that during assembly or joining together of the sabot, projectile arrow and entrainment elements, individual parts will become lost, particularly since, with this heretofore known projectile, joints between the segments of the projectile are sealed by ledges or strips against the throughflow of propellant gases. The ledges are inserted into grooves cut into the segments and directed transversely with respect to the lengthwise axis of the projectile.
According to another heretofore known projectile of this type, as disclosed in Swiss Pat. No. 536,481, the projectile body protrudes, by means of its rear portion, into a sleeve-shaped projection of the sabot. In the rear portion of the projectile body, there are machined circumferential grooves. In order to secure the sabot at the projectile body there are provided dogs or cams which engage into the circumferential grooves of the projectile body. These dogs or cams are produced by a punch which radially impacts against the sleeve-shaped projection of the sabot. The punch forces material of the sabot, at a number of locations, into the circumferential or peripheral grooves.
With such projectile, there is needed a special working operation for attachment of the projectile body at the sabot. By the same token, also a device must be provided for producing the dogs or cams from the material of the projection of the sabot. However, since these dogs or cams only can engage at a number of places along the circumference of the projectile body at such projectile body, the major part of the circumferential grooves does not contribute to the transmission of the forces between the sabot and the projectile body. The projectile body, fabricated from a heavy metal, unnecessarily experiences a weight reduction by virtue of such continuous grooves, which, in turn, reduces the effectiveness of the projectile.